Big media admits need to get aggressive

By Michele Gershberg and Kenneth Li

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Big U.S. media executives give themselves low marks on reaching consumers in new ways, but will experiment furiously in 2007 to find out what works.

From developing new business models with old partners to challenging the status quo outright, top media and entertainment executives told the Reuters Media Summit in New York this week that they plan to do a better job finding out how people want to get news and entertainment.

"I wouldn't give it a high grade yet," Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief Executive Richard Parsons said when asked how big media scored with new distribution technologies.

"They say big media companies are too big, too clunky," Parsons said. "It's like when I was a kid -- all the little guys were always the best athletes ... But once the big guys got control over their bodies, they killed the little guys."

At risk for traditional media companies is a $960 billion global market for entertainment and advertising, and the threat of losing their grip on new generations of viewers growing up with the Internet, where movies, music and news are just a few clicks away.

"Any media company that doesn't have a solid plan to at least experiment in these areas could be left behind," said David Sanderson, head of Bain & Co.'s global media practice.

At the same time, companies "need to be vigilant about what's working and what's not and be willing to turn off the spigot when the well is running dry," he said.

For months, discussions about the future of media have been dominated by talk about YouTube, the popular online video-sharing site that was formed less than two years ago and bought by Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) last month for $1.65 billion.  Continued...